Originally issued in 1954, Hester Lilly was Elizabeth Taylor’s first volume of stories.

Originally issued in 1954, Hester Lilly was Elizabeth Taylor’s first volume of stories. It’s also my first experience of her short fiction. There are some brilliant stories here, up there with some of the best scenes from her longer works.

Elizabeth Taylor (née Coles; 3 July 1912 – 19 November 1975) was an English novelist and short-story writer. Kingsley Amis described her as "one of the best English novelists born in this century". Antonia Fraser called her "one of the most underrated writers of the 20th century", while Hilary Mantel said she was "deft, accomplished and somewhat underrated".

Hester and Robert having been writing to one another for some time and Muriel feels excluded. I do so adore Elizabeth Taylor’s writing, I think her short stories are masterly, and I am very fussy about short stories, I used to think I didn’t much care for them

Hester and Robert having been writing to one another for some time and Muriel feels excluded. I do so adore Elizabeth Taylor’s writing, I think her short stories are masterly, and I am very fussy about short stories, I used to think I didn’t much care for them. These were a joy, and I am sure they are stories that I will happily return to again and again.

Like Bowen, another underrated Elizabeth, Taylor knew that "there is no end to the violations committed by children on. .On the first page of "Hester Lilly", the first story in Taylor's first collection, is the matchless, simple sentence: "Deception enveloped them.

Like Bowen, another underrated Elizabeth, Taylor knew that "there is no end to the violations committed by children on children, quietly talking alone. Taylor's sympathy for the pain inflicted by teenagers on themselves was stronger still: "Other people's reactions to herself claimed most of Betsy's thoughts. Her adolescents are tearful, pushy, full of mannered self-regard: "Always she seemed to herself to be doomed; could not imagin. hy no one had kidnapped her as an infant.

AN NYRB CLASSICS ORIGINAL Elizabeth Taylor is finally beginning to.I find the writing of Elizabeth Taylor fresh, and inevitably hitting the right nail on the head in every sentence.

AN NYRB CLASSICS ORIGINAL Elizabeth Taylor is finally beginning to gain the recognition due to her as one of the best English writers of the postwar period. In fact I find her so unbelievably good, kind, stimulating, catty and subtle that I forget I’m a critic. Again in the opening story, Hester Lily, a lonely young girl fails to find a home with her near relatives and joins up with an older man who is as lonely and disconnected as she.

A Dedicated Man. by Elizabeth Taylor. A collection of stories by the author of "The Sleeping Beauty", "Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont", "The Soul of Kindness", "In a Summer Season" and "Angel". Select Format: Hardcover. ISBN13: 9780860686071. Release Date: July 1993.

Hester Lilly (Virago Modern Classics). Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. ISBN 10: 0860686124 ISBN 13: 9780860686125. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting.